Wrestle Royalty Predicts…Extreme Rules 2019

Here, ye, hear, ye. The Royals of Wrestle Royalty are at it again – this time pontificating, elaborating on, and predicting what promises to be an amazing WWE Stomping Grounds PPV! Put on a pot of coffee and read along with what we have to say. We want to see your predictions too! Vote in the polls following each match!

Queen KB: At this point, I don’t think there is any way they would pull the straps off of Lynch and Rollins to put them on Corbin who gets great heat but seems lost in his TGI Friday’s uniform and runs with the hot blonde who is so not ready for this push. I think the match will be great and there will be a number of close moments where it looks like the heels will win, but in the end there’s no way they would pull the straps off this power couple.

Queen’s Predicted Winner – Seth Rollins

Baron Botch: This might actually be kind of fun. Lacey has become pretty good slime but she’s really lacked in the ring. She finally seems to be there now…at least a little. Baron’s been able to keep his career going by being equally good slime and I like the convenient alliance of this team. I know some are being uptight and don’t like WWE trading on Seth’s and Becky’s real relationship but I’m enjoying it. I think it adds dimension to both of them. Seth, in particular, was getting a little stale character-wise so this gives him more to play with. Who wins? I think it’s kind of a given but this should be a fun match with both Lacey & Baron heeling it up for all they’re worth.

THE WINNAHS and STILL!!! – The Man & her other half, Seth

Duke Dre: I’ve never been much of a mixed tag match kind of a guy but the WWE has done a decent enough of a job building up this specific mixed tag match. Corbin and Lacey have had solid chemistry together throughout this feud but there’s no doubt in my mind that Seth and Becky go over here before moving on to an even bigger threat *cough cough* Brock Lesnar down the road or maybe even possibly a newly reinvented Bray Wyatt and in Becky’s case a newly called up Shayna Baszler *fingers crossed*.

However, there is something I wanted to get off my chest real fast, I am a bit concerned with how Seth’s and Becky’s relationship is unfolding inside the kayfabe world, Seth has seemingly taking a backseat in every way possible to Becky and even comes off as the damsel in destress at times like for instance when Becky pushed Seth out of the way to instead absorb a bump from Andrade this past week on RAW. Hopefully after this Sunday, Seth and Becky’s relationship won’t be so force-fed.

The Winner – Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch

Sovereign S.A.M: The one thing that is interesting about this match is that the special guest referee that Corbin gets to choose has yet to be announced. This makes me wonder if somebody unexpected is set to be the referee. Either way, I have enjoyed Corbin’s work as a heel and do not understand people who do not want to give him credit for generating true heel heat. I saw it live and believe me when I say that heat is real and not go away heat. I think Corbin has the ability to put on a good match and it really depends on who he shares the ring with. Seth is my favorite worker right now in WWE and I think he can help elevate Corbin to put on a good match. Like Becky, I find it difficult to see Seth dropping the belt right now so take that for what you will.

The Winners: Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch

Sir Mitch: I wish I could work out why this is the main event. I mean, Lacey Evens I get, Vince, LOVES her gimmick (even though I still find it to be an insufferable level of politically incorrect in a lot of ways) regardless of her being a bit green in the ring. But for the life of me, I still can’t work out why Corbin is still being pushed so hard on WWE. The guy is the this generation’s incarnation of “X-Pac heat” (Or “Go Away” heat as some are now calling it)

The rumour of Vince pushing Corbin due to a focus group survey saying has inspired much debate backstage at WR. It ranged from that idea that Vince would blindly believe a survey like this (based on WWE’s product the last few years we all agreed Vince listens to these surveys far more than he listens to his audience) to whether women would really find Baron Corbin hotter than guys like Roman Reigns for example. It’s something we would like your thoughts on in the comments (especially from female readers)

I’m also unsure on WWE turning the real-life relationship between Seth and Becky into a storyline. Personally, I don’t think it does either one of them any good!

Becky character right now feels more like someone who’s more focused on kicking arse and winning matches than being in a relationship, and Seth just looks like he’s an emasculated World Champion right now (and not in a funny way)

Simply put, I think this match is going to be a disaster, and it will just make everyone involved look bad!

As far as picking a winner goes, Vince would be insane to put Lacy and Baron.

Winner: Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch

Magnate Mat: The Man and The Man’s Man are the hottest things going in WWE right now. Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans are not. again this is NOT a “if you don’t like them, they are doing their job”…this is a “I dont like them so I’m changing the channel”

Baron Corbin has all the charisma of my dog’s favorite blanket and Lacey Evans doesn’t belong in yet ANOTHER title match. The only reason to watch this match is the hope that Lynch and Rollins dominate this thing and expose Corbin and Evans for the underwhelming villains they really are.

WWE ChampionshipKofi Kingston (c) vs. Samoa Joe

Queen KB: I’m hoping that this match goes off on Sunday night. With Kofi not working due to injury, I don’t really want him working with someone who works as stiff as Joe. I know Joe is careful but if Kofi is dealing with some issues, there’s a risk. That being said, if Kofi was just pulled from the show over something minor, there is no reason for him to lose this match to Joe. Now, I love Joe and have watched his television wrestling career for a very long time and hope he has a chance at being a top champion in the WWE, but not by taking it off Kofi whose televised career I’ve also watched closely. Both men work hard and are deserving, but Kofi is the one with the strap right now and I want to see how far he can go with it. Kofi had made 2019 a year where we can again believe that those who are trod on and treated badly for no reason other than jealousy can come back and win the big one. He’s been great as Champ and should continue to be one.

Queen’s Predicted Winner – Kofi Kingston

Baron Botch: If Kofi is really going in injured, I think having him in there with Samoa Joe would be the safest thing to do. They’re friends in the real world so Joe will be careful if the need arises. The main decider for me on this match is the fact that this feud has all it takes to go longer and get far darker. I don’t want this to be the end of it and if Samoa Joe were to win, that would end the fun parts of this for me. I want him to keep chasing. Joe is great period but he’s that much more engaging when he’s chasing.

THE WINNAHS and STILL!!! – Kofi Kingston

Duke Dre: This is the match in most looking forward to this Sunday. No matter the result here it’s a win-win for me. For starters I just wanna say how happy I am with the way Kofi’s title reign has played out so far. He’s been every bit the champion that Seth has been so far and has looked legit in every single match he’s been in since winning that title. Further, who can forget the back and forth promo they had a couple weeks ago that actually saw Kofi get the better of Joe on the mic. While this feud has only had a few weeks of build there has been no wasted motion. This has been Good Guy vs Bad Guy 101 perfection. I got Kofi retaining here in a very good back and forth match.

The Winner – Kofi Kingston

Sovereign S.A.M: Boy, oh boy was I excited when I saw that Kofi would be taking on Samoa Joe as his next opponent. Joe tends to bring out the more aggressive side of his opponents, so I expect that from Kofi here. It is a shame that this match is without a stipulation because I think a ladder match, or something could have added to this. Either way, I expect this to be a fun match and one to further cement Kofi as a strong champion. It is a shame though that I think we may never see Samoa Joe hold a top strap in the company but that may have to do with him coming to the main roster a few years too late and not that they don’t believe he can be a top champion.

The Winner and STILL WWE Champion: Kofi Kingston

Sir Mitch: Considering Kofi is nursing a minor back injury, I’m guessing this will be an easy match for him. But I’m not sure how you can have an easy match with someone with a destroyer character like Joe without making him look weak (e.g., his match at Mania with Rey Mysterio)

I’m actually quite curious to see what they come up with quite frankly, but I don’t foresee Kofi dropping the Title…unless Woods and Big E turn on him and break up the New Day!

Winner: Kofi Kingston

Magnate Mat: Samoa Joe is good in any story you insert him into. He knows how to get personal and dirty in an instant and engage anyone watching. The wave of KofiMania continues on, Kofi has been defending his title, keeping the crowd involved, and beating anyone put in front of him. That all changes at Extreme Rules. Joe is due for a big win and I think this is it. He’s going to maul Kofi like a bear and it should be great to watch.

Queen KB: I know this is total crap, and I agree. I worry that Super Reigns will make this into a reason for THOSE fans to hate on him again. You know Shane will have every one of his stooges get involved in this match to try to take out Taker and Reigns, but in the end Reigns will come back, take them all out and let Taker get the three. The whole thing is a travesty and shouldn’t be happening – from Shane to Taker and almost everything in between. This is the worst of old people and AE wrapped into one match.

Queen’s Predicted Winner – Roman Reigns & The Undertaker

Baron Botch: The Bolsheviks have pretty much run roughshod over the entire tag team division in WWF. Few teams have done more damage to more talented athletes (or more IHOP Rooty Tooty Fresh N’ Fruity plates) than Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov. The Young Stallions seemingly have all it takes to remain a force for a long time. Of course, we all know what the rub here is. There’s no question in my mind that Nikolai in particular will pay dearly for replacing Paul Roman’s tanning oil with Worcestershire sauce, thus making him an unusual shade of brown for approximately 2 months (Bobby Heenan has had a ball with that as you’ve heard on both “Superstars of Wrestling” and “Wrestling Spotlight”. We also know that one of the Bolsheviks replaced the strawberries in Jim’s Cheerios with wax ones but since Jim didn’t even seem to notice, I doubt that matters much.

As for who wins, we know the Young Stallions are very angry but Nikolai and Zhukov will simply prove too much to overcome in terms of strength and experience.

Duke Dre: I’m still having a hard time making sense of Undertaker being involved in this angle. An explanation was never given as to why he’s decided to help Roman out. Hell! I’m having an even harder time wondering why Undertaker won’t just retire yet. It’s beyond even “Michael Jordan playing with the Wizards” bad; this is “Michael Jordan as the Charlotte Bobcats Owner/GM” bad. If WWE insisted on using a legend in this spot then wouldn’t it have made way more sense for The Rock to help Roman in this instance?

Anyway, besides all that this match has a ton of moving parts; Elias, The Revival, Ziggler, The Usos, and the hottest thing coming out of the WWE this week, Kevin Owens (Shane says you’re welcome 😉) are all sure to play a role in determining the outcome of this match. Then, of course, this match could also serve as a vehicle to set up a 1 on 1 match between The Undertaker and Drew McIntyre at Summerslam next month.

Expect this match to be EXTREMELY overbooked but also very entertaining. Undertaker and Roman pick up the win here, Taker moves into a program with Drew, KO gets inserted into a feud with Shane and Roman possibly sets his sights on the WWE Championship heading into Summerslam

The Winner – Roman Reigns & The Undertaker

Sovereign S.A.M: I have absolutely no interest in this match and that is solely because of the involvement of the Undertaker. It makes absolutely no sense for him to be involved and he is in Flair/Funk territory of not knowing when to hang it up. I hope we are not in for a long match. Taker cannot go long because his body simply cannot keep up. Roman will probably do most of the heavy lifting and I would much rather see a handicap match than have the Undertaker shoehorned in.

The Winners: Roman Reigns & The Undertaker

Sir Mitch: I’m just going to say it, why is Undertaker coming to Roman Reigns aid? Storyline-wise, Taker should want to destroy him! Roman beat him at WrestleMania, took his nickname of “Big Dog” is calling Undertaker’s “yard” his and he even pinched his catchphrase of Rest In Peace on Smackdown this week.

I’m holding out hope Taker betrays Roman during this match and reveals it was an elaborate rouse as that is honestly the only thing that could make sense, but sadly it seems like that’s probably the last thing that’s going to happen.

KO said everything we are all thinking in regards to Shane McMahon being on TV so much so I won’t repeat it, but I fear WWE is only turning fan frustration at Shane’s spot in order to keep pushing him through to Summerslam and perhaps beyond.

On that note, I foresee Shane and Drew going over in this one.

Winner: Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre

Magnate Mat: The only reason that Taker is in this match is because of the stinkfest at Super Showdown w Goldberg, that has to be the reason…oh and Shane spreading himself over both shows for no good reason, In a good and just world, this would be Roman vs Drew and that on its own would be a match worth caring about, but alas no. Shane isn’t “being a good heel” by ticking people off; he’s making them change the channel. Whoever wins, we lose

United States ChampionshipRicochet (c) vs. AJ Styles

Queen KB: I expect The Good Brothers will be right there with Styles helping him cheat to win the US Championship, but Ricochet was beaten down on Raw so I hope that means he will use his crafty ways to manage to win this one. It’s way too early for Ricochet to drop the strap. I see The Club will be left fuming and confused, unable to win something substantial until Balor is back with them. Then, they will be a well oiled faction.

Queen’s Predicted Winner – Ricochet

Baron Botch: Now, THIS…THIS will be fun. I have ZERO problem seeing this again. Of course, we now have the added wrinkle of Gallows and Anderson which also doesn’t bother me. Nice to see The Club back together. Heck, it’s nice just to see Gallows and Anderson doing something again. AJ is one of the best to ever do it and Ricochet is just so incredibly crispy in there. Everyone looks slow compared to him. My dream at this point would be to see Ricochet vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Jordan Myles (ACH everywhere else he’s been) in a Three Way match. No commentator alive could call it but it’d be too much fun.

Anyway, the winner? Yes, I know Gallows & Anderson will get involved but Ricochet’s run is young and honestly, winning the U.S. title would be backward movement for AJ so…

THE WINNAH and STILL!!! – Ricochet

Duke Dre: This match is the hardest to predict. Ricochet just won the US title but AJ just turned heel and re-aligned with his long time friends so a case can be made that both guys need a win here. Regardless of the outcome, this feud will definitely continue past this Sunday.

Before I get to my pick, I just wanna throw out a bold statement here and say that WWE has finally found the guy (Ricochet) that will fill the void left by Rey Mysterio once he decides to hang em up for good. He may not be a Luchador but he’s every bit the high flyer Rey was in his younger days and fits the bill of the undersized underdog baby face to a T. The fact that WWE management had him go over AJ on free TV and had AJ turn heel on him just goes to show how high they are on Ricochet.

After much thought, I think AJ winning here adds fuel to the fire and gets more heat on this feud. And with the numbers in his corner I feel a bit more confident picking AJ here. AJ wins tonight but Ricochet ultimately comes out on top down the road.

The Winner – AJ Styles

Sovereign S.A.M: If I had a choice for early match of the night, it would be this one. The matches they have had on Raw had been great and I hope they give them at least 15 minutes to bring the house down. AJ has been one of the best in the world for years and Ricochet is blossoming into a star in the WWE. AJ did turn heel and reunited the Club so that could play a factor in this match. This will be the match that I will just sit back and watch because the possibility of a great match is so high. It is tough to pick a winner here but regardless of who wins, I think this feud is far from over.

Just like the situation with the Revival, WWE didn’t want to lose talents to other promotions, so they gave Gallows and Anderson a big pay raise and a new push.

Ricochet is probably WWE’s best hire in years. The man has that Rey Mysterio quality of being a human highlight reel of insane spots where you just sit there in awe watching him and wonder just how on earth he just did what you just saw!

This is the match I am most looking forward to seeing in this show, and I really don’t care who goes over!

Winner: ME!!!!!!

Magnate Mat: You don’t even need a storyline for this one. Two of the best performers of this era in professional wrestling competing for a title that is slowly getting it’s prestige back. Ricochet is finally becoming the star he deserves to be and AJ has swung around back to Bad Angry AJ (which was one of his most fun iterations). I’d expect AJ’s return to his villainous ways will lead to a more physical style from him to combat Ricochet’s aerial assault but its Rico’s time.

Last Man Standing matchBraun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley

Queen KB: I have an idea on how this should go down. While it personally like to see Strowman just destroy Lashley out of the blocks, Strowman doesn’t have the monster push he had and deserved, and so he’s not the force he once was. It feels like when Kane removed his mask and lost most of his scariness. Anyway, because of how McMahon screwed Strowman over and made him look like a normal human being, I think Lashley will be appear to be winning this until Strowman’ s long lost brother, Gene Snitski, appears and scoops Strowman to his feet at the last moment and gives him the win. (Stranger things have happened.)

Queen’s Predicted Winner – Braun Strowman

Baron Botch: My, how long I went not caring about any of this. All the silly gimmicks (they really gave us a Tug of War!!!) They just would not let this go and it became incredibly tedious.

Then, the assault on the power bill happened.

All of a sudden, I’m into this. Both have a legitimate axe to grind and this has been handled incredibly well. Lashley came out and destroyed Rey Mysterio to sell his apoplectic rage and now we’re here. Who’ll win? That’s harder to figure. If the reports are true, Strowman’s knees are wearing out. Given that his running is slower than it once was, there could be some truth to that. Further, Lashley isn’t getting any younger and if they ever intend to build to Lashley/Lesnar, they need to get on it. My hope is this match will be the beginning of that. Now, if we can just get Lashley a mouthpiece (cough, cough, Lio, cough, cough)

THE WINNAH – Bobby Lashley

Duke Dre: This feud has literally been risen from the dead like Lazarus. I do think that this match would have been better saved for Summerslam so both guys could sell their injuries longer after going through the stage set on RAW a couple weeks ago. A minor complaint on my end. Strowman has gotten the better of Lashley in all of their fears of strengths challenges so Lashley needs this win a whole lot more. I’m thinking the story that will be told here is that Strowman is returning to action too soon and won’t be at 100%, it’s a way to protect Braun in defeat and a way to also restore some much needed credibility to Lashley.

The Winner – Bobby Lashley

Sovereign S.A.M: I have had no interest in this feud because of the horrible booking behind it. I had no interest in seeing these two engage in an arm-wrestling match or a tug of war. That being said, the last two weeks have raised my interest and I think this could be a fun hoss match. This stipulation plays well into Braun Strowman because he does work better in matches that are a bit more chaotic because it allows him to really showcase his size and strength the best.

The Winner: Bobby Lashley

Sir Mitch: I’m sorry, but I’m just not invested in this match. Not event Braun and Booby going through the WWE stage LED board piqued my interest. Although that was a lot more interesting than an arm-wrestling contest (Vince really is stuck in the ’80s)

Both of these guys are stuck in a rut creatively as well as being unsure of their place in the card, so both could really use the strong win. But I have an inkling Braun will go over in this one.

Winner: Braun Strowman

Magnate Mat: This should be fun, considering the WWE has figured out how to get Bobby Lashley’s fearsome reputation back and the same with Braun Strowman. This should be a solid 20-25 minutes of Braun and Bobby hammering the snot out of each other. If Braun doesn’t flip an ambulance or tear down a wall, I will be VERY disappointed.

Queen KB: I feel somewhat horrible saying this, but they need to get that strap off Bayley. She’s just not cutting it as a top superstar, never mind as SD Women’s Champion. They have built this great storyline with Nikki and Bliss and it’s time to take it to the next level. It’s obvious that Nikki will do all the work and Bliss will steal the three. Over the coming weeks issues will grow between Nikki and Bliss over the strap and someone will get in the middle and make a SummerSlam match where Nikki will really get to play – with Bliss!

Queen’s Predicted Winner – Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss

Baron Botch: The only weak part of this match is the champion, Bayley. I just don’t care about her. Her acting has been awful throughout this feud. She just isn’t selling the “don’t you see what Alexa’s doing to you, Nikki?” thing well at all. She just won’t put real emotion into anything. Nikki Cross has been absolutely great as the naive friend and we already know that Alexa Bliss pulls off underhanded and manipulative slime better than anyone else on the roster. There are a couple of way this can go. Nikki could do the work and get the pin. Alexa could take the title and discard Nikki. Nikki and Alexa could then feud. It could also be that Sasha comes back to side with Bayley so that she wins. Alexa can then blame Nikki for the loss she’d take. Both are great stories. I’m all for anything that gets that feud going and removes the unexciting Bayley from that equation. Based on what we’ve been seeing, I’m thinking they’ll go the Sasha route.

THE WINNAH and STILL!!!: Bayley

Duke Dre: This has probably been the best built angle in the WWE post Mania. Nikki Cross has been allowed to display a ton depth, diversity and vulnerability in her character never before seen, Bayley has a new added edge to her that’s been missing since she got called back up to main roster back in 2016 and Alexa is just as manipulating as ever.

With the events that unfolded on RAW this past week, it’s pretty obvious that Sasha Banks will be returning this Sunday to come to Bayley’s rescue. And although this match and angle has a predictable finish the story has been told beautifully. Bayley gets the win and Alexa blames Nikki Cross for costing her an opportunity to be champion.

The Winner: Bayley

Sovereign S.A.M: The best part of this feud for me has been the growing relationship between Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss. Bayley has been a good foil for this and I have enjoyed the chemistry between the women. It is interesting that during the go-home episodes that they kept hammering home that Bayley has no friends to help her. It does make me wonder if we will see the return of Sasha Banks to aid Bayley during this match. I do not have the highest of expectations for this match, but I do hope we get a solid match. I have gone back and forth in picking a winner here, but I will go with what makes the most sense to me.

The Winner and STILL Smackdown Women’s Champion: Bayley

Sir Mitch: I really hate what they’ve done to Nikki Cross’s character! People keep telling me that they are just adding more depth to it and that she was one-dimensional….but those people are idiots. I’m sorry, I’m not saying that to be mean, but those arguments are just so asinine!

Nikki was one of the most entertaining and well-crafted characters in NXT. People who doubt this should watch the match she had with Shayna Baszler at Takeover. That was more character development for her and more entertaining than this silly mean girl fake friendship angle.

Speaking of which, how many times are we going to go through this routine with Alexa Bliss? We get it already! She pretends to befriend a lonely girl on the roster, uses them to get the title then she dumps them. First, she did it with Mickie James, then Nia Jax and now Nikki Cross. If you ask me, Alexa is the one-dimensional character on TV, not Nikki Cross…but I am ranting again!

Apologies, WR people I will get back on track here.

So, picking a winner? It all depends on when Sasha Banks will return and join Bayley to take on Alexa and Nikki. If it’s at Extreme Rules, I see Bayley keeping the Title. If it’s after Extreme Rules, I see her dropping it to Alexa.

After the teases this week on Raw and Smackdown, I think Bayley will be going over!

Winner: Bayley

Magnate Mat: Ok, so this whole Nikki Cross being normal outside the ring and a banshee inside of it, along with this friendship with Alexa Bliss isn’t working for me. I don’t get it……at all. Not to mention Bayley’s reign as champion has been severely underwhelming, this just seems to be a way to get another title on Alexa for no discernible reason other than she’s blonde and attractive. The women’s division is suffering because of the decision-making behind the scenes and its hurting the vastly underused women’s roster AND the audience.

Queen KB: I have so little interest in this that I don’t care. The Usos are great, but they cannot be Tag Team Champs 24/7 (unless they are the 24/7 Champs), so someone has to, but Revival have been so downright boring on the main roster. They don’t even get to show their ring skills these days. I hope Heyman fixes this because McMahon had made a hash out of so many great NXT superstars. Revival should keep the straps, I guess, for now, and hope things improve with a different aging wrestling genius at the helm. If things don’t get better, they need to drop to the Usos at SummerSlam.

Queen’s Predicted Winner – The Revival

Baron Botch: The Usos have been a tag team for what feels like forever and it’s about time for another character tweak. They are amazing in the ring so no shade there ever. The Revival simply aren’t coming across very well. I don’t care about them and since they’re holding the belts, I should. Maybe this match will make me care. I certainly hope it does. As for who wins, I’m not sure. The Usos have held the titles a lot and done it well. I’m just not sure that a loss is what The Revival need right now.

THE WINNAH and STILL!!!: The Revival

Duke Dre: This will probably end up being the pre-show match but regardless of the care placement of this match you can never go wrong with a Usos/Revival match up. It’s also refreshing to see that we will get two very good tag team title matches at Extreme Rules (this one and the Triple Threat Match)

The Usos defeated the Revival recently in a non title match up so I think the Revival will get their win back this Sunday.

The Winner: The Revival

Sovereign S.A.M: This feud has been going on for some time now and the matches have been rather good. That shouldn’t come as a surprise because these two teams are among the best in the world and are most likely in the top five of tag teams. We all know that tag team wrestling on the main roster is a bit of a lost art, so I hope that this match gets enough time and isn’t just a seven-minute match. The Revival have found new life since partnering up with Shane McMahon and have become more interesting as a result. The Usos are who they are and are my favorite team going right now. All I hope for is that these two teams get at least 12 minutes and can knock it out of the park.

Winners and STILL Raw Tag Team Champions: The Revival

Sir Mitch: Scott Dawson of The Revival joked on Twitter that complaining enough backstage got him and his tag partner a renewed push…and honestly, that is exactly what happened!

With alternatives for workers to go work like AEW and NJPW, WWE is going to have a hard time not losing people. Especially with a roster so unbelievably bloated right now. At any rate, I’m happy to see The Revival be given something meaningful to do again.

As far as picking a winner goes, I don’t see The Usos going over here!

Winner: The Revival

Magnate Mat: Both are entertaining and physical teams. The Revival finally have some momentum behind them after almost 2 years of not doing much of anything and The Usos have kept semi busy since moving to RAW. This will probably be a better match than people are expecting, hopefully everyone brings their A game and Id like to see The Revival retain and this rivalry continue.

Aleister Black vs. Cesaro

Queen KB: I’m sitting in my medieval pavilion writing this on my phone (that’s dedication right there) and keep going back and forth between writing this in an email to Botch and checking on the matches on Wiki while SDLive is airing. It kept saying Black’s opponent was TBD, until suddenly it was Cesaro and I whooped loudly. Luckily there are not any people right around me right now who don’t know I’m writing this, so no one batted an eye. I’m so excited about this! I really think this is perfect on so many levels. I love Cesaro and believe he needs a great one-on-one feud, and Black could be the perfect person for that. I’m giddy over this match as I love both these guys so much. The power and creativity in this match are going to be off the hizzle! The problem is that I cannot pick a winner between these two, so I’m going to make this my DQ match of the night. Something screwy will happen and they will both be counted out, down, something, or Cesaro will cheat and get caught. This will not end clean so they can really build this into something truly special, because both men deserve it.

Queen’s Predicted Winner – DQ/Count Out/No Clean Winner

Baron Botch: Oh, this should be fun. We’ve been waiting to see who’d “knock on [Aleister’s] door and Cesaro has done it. Aleister has charisma for weeks! I never knew it until he gave these promos and really got a chance to show us how good he is there. Cesaro is far less good there but he can work the ring like a mad man. This should be a great match and might even be the sleeper of the night. Who wins? We all do. As for the victor here, they seem to be restarting on both to some degree. They’ve put the most time into Aleister so…

THE WINNAH and STILL!!!: Aleister Black

Duke Dre: If this guys can get 15 minutes, they will out on a wrestling clinic and both guys will come out of this looking like a million bucks. With all the effort put into all the vignettes for Black, I can’t imagine a scenario where he loses here. A win over Cesaro will help re-establish him on the main roster right out the gate.

The Winner: Aleister Black

Sovereign S.A.M: I think this match has the opportunity to be the sleeper hit of the night and I hope they get enough time to put on a good match. For weeks, Aleister has been waiting for someone to pick a fight with him and now he has someone to fight. I don’t know how much this makes sense from a logic standpoint, but I am looking forward to this match nonetheless. This is a tricky match to book because this is Aleister’s first big solo match, so he cannot look weak here. Meanwhile, Cesaro has been booked strong since being separated from Sheamus so a loss could derail him a smidge. I think I have to go with the most logical choice when making my prediction here.

The Winner: Aleister Black

Sir Mitch: While the reveal of Black’s opponent for Extreme Rules felt a little anti-climatic, a match between him and Cesaro is something I’ve wanted to see ever since Black debuted on the main roster.

As much as Cesaro is criminally underrated in WWE, I can’t see him going over in this one given all the effort WWE has put into building up Black through these backstage segments.

Winner: Aleister Black

Magnate Mat: So Aleister Black has been hanging out in his dark room, waiting for an opponent…someone to fight. Cesaro likes to fight, especially since getting back into singles competiton, Cesaro hasn’t just been fighting opponents, he’s been dominating opponents. Both Cesaro and Black are the types who can do it all when called upon, they can hit, wrestle, strike, brawl, what have you. This might be MOTN and I think both really need the win.

Queen KB: I really thought they might have strapped Heavy Machinery, until Otis won on SDLive and I knew that it wouldn’t happen right yet. Otis is amazing, but Tucker is so the Jannetty of the team. In fact, Tucker is so boring compared to Otis that we might have to change that phrase from Jannetty at some point very soon. Tucker is trying, he just cannot keep up, and with all that they won’t win this one. With Kofi as WWE Champion, I think strapping New Day would be too distracting as Tag Team Champions. That leaves Bryan and Rowan and I have no problem with that. They are a solid team and perform well together, in ring and on the mic. I think this time they need to leave well enough alone.

Queen’s Predicted Winner – Drew Gulak

Baron Botch: This is going to be completely nuts. All of them can go and the story being told is really good. I wouldn’t be mad if any of them won this one but I think it just might be time for Heavy Machinery to take this. Otis and Tucker are just so likable. I was worried about Tucker for a minute but he’s really stepped up and Otis has always been a blast. The other two teams have already been champs so it’s time for Otis & Tucker, I think.

THE WINNAH and NEW!!!: Heavy Machinery

Duke Dre: This has all the makings of a show stealer. It’s also nice to see Otis and Tucker finally get a chance to shine with some of the more established tag teams on the roster and given what we saw on Smackdown this past week these guys will be huge hits. Otis has all the makings to be a star in this industry and that was on full display this past week. And New Day and the Planet’s Tag Team Champions are still as entertaining as ever.

I feel like this match will serve to set up a Bryan/Rowan vs Heavy Machinery match at Summerslam next month so with that in mind I’m picking Bryan and Rowan to retain here before eventually dropping the tag titles to Heavy Machinery at a later date.

The Winner: Daniel Bryan & Rowan

Sovereign S.A.M: This is quite the interesting matchup because a case could be made for any of these teams. If WWE wanted to play it safe, they could put the titles back on the New Day because they have proven time and time again to be a reliable option. Heavy Machinery are clearly being groomed to be one of the top teams on Smackdown Live, so a win here can cement their standing in the pecking order. Bryan and Rowan have been great as the planet’s champions, so it might be too early to take the titles off of them. Triple threat matches do have a tendency to be rather fun, so I expect that here.

The Winners and STILL Smackdown Tag Team Champions: Daniel Bryan & Rowan

Sir Mitch: I really don’t see Bryan and Rowan dropping the Titles here, but I fully expect a fun match from these three teams (although the preview we got on Smackdown this week felt like a bit of a mess to me)

On a personal note, I hope Otis gets a lot of ring time. That guy is bloody entertaining!

Cruiserweight ChampionshipDrew Gulak (c) vs. Tony Nese

Queen KB: I love Gulak and while I’ve not seen 205 Live in two weeks, when I get home I’m going to dive right in. I love Gulak and think he really needs time to develop as the Cruiserweight Champion and not rush the strap off him. This will be a great match, but I am willing to bet it will be during the Kick Off and few fans will get to enjoy it the way they would if they really watched.

Queen’s Predicted Winner – Drew Gulak

Baron Botch: This is likely to end up as pre-show fodder but the match will get the night started off well. Both can work their faces off. The aggression both have been showing lately will likely rear its head here and I can’t wait. In Gulak’s case, I honestly can’t imagine what took them so long to put the title on him. He’s just so good in every way possible. Nese has stepped up big time to become more than the one-dimensional body guy too. Who wins? We do! As for the title, Gulak hasn’t had it that long and he should keep it longer for sure.

THE WINNAH and STILL!!!: Drew Gulak

Duke Dre: Gulak and Nese have been on the 205 Live brand since Day 1 so it’s cool to see these two get a one-on-one match after all the hard work both guys have put in over the last few years. I’m picking Gulak here because he just won the title last month so it wouldn’t make much sense for him to drop the title here so soon.

The Winner: Drew Gulak

Sovereign S.A.M: I was so happy to see Drew Gulak win the Cruiserweight Championship because I think he has put in the most work on 205 Live since it made its debut. I think the time was right and now 205 Live can be his show. I think Tony Nese is better when he has something to chase rather than be the champion because it brings a little bit more out of him. The disappointing thing about this match is that it will probably be on the kickoff once again because that seems to be the destiny of the Cruiserweight division. The good thing is that the Cruiserweights bring it no matter where they are on the card, so we have that to look forward to.

The Winner and STILL Cruiserweight Champion: Drew Gulak

Sir Mitch: I haven’t watched an episode of 205 Live since Buddy Murphy left, so I have no idea what’s going on honestly.

So if you’re asking me who’s going over in this one its a complete guess of Drew Gulak in this one.

Winner: Drew Gulak

Magnate Mat: Drew Gulak becoming CW champ was a long time coming. Coming from no personality to PowerPoint to “A Better 205 Live” and all of that, Gulak is the franchise player of 205 Live, which has been must watch programming for the past year. Tony Nese won the CW title at Mania, a stones throw from his native Long Island and could easily win against his former friend and training partner.